VOA常速英语2007-UNHCR Moves Displaced Persons in Eastern DRC to

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
19 October 2007

The UN refugee agency says it has begun transferring people who have been internally displaced by clashes in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from makeshift settlements to a new camp.  The UNHCR says it began moving a first group Thursday from Ndosho to the new camp at Buhimba six kilometers west of Goma, the main town in the area.  Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.

Fighting among government troops, renegade forces and rebels has been going on periodically throughout the year.  This has caused some of the largest displacements² seen in North Kivu province for years. 

Since September, fighting between forces loyal to renegade leader, Laurent Nkunda, and government troops has intensified³, leading to more displacement¹. 

UN refugee spokeswoman, Jennifer Pagonis, says existing camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) are full, forcing the newly displaced to set up in squalid makeshift settlements.  To answer this need, she says the UNHCR has built a new camp at Buhimba.  She says it can accommodate more than 10,000 people.

"People have been living in makeshift settlements where there has been no sanitation⁴, no drinking water," she noted⁵.  "So, this is the first step to providing them with just the basic they need to survive in much better circumstances.  The first group of 500 people we hope will be finished being moved by the end of today [Friday].  Then we will start moving seven thousand people from another congested site." 

Those 7,000 people have been living in a makeshift site in Lac Vert west of Goma. 

Despite a current lull⁶ in the fighting, Pagonis says displaced people are continuing to arrive at sites around Goma.  In the last 10 days, she says more than 500 families have arrived.  She calls this a small portion of the overall displacement in North Kivu.

"Aid agencies estimate that over 370,000 IDPs have been displaced altogether in North Kivu since December 2006," she explained.  "In the Mugunga area alone, that mark has now surpassed 80,000.  We fear that there are still people who cannot get out or are inaccessible⁷ to humanitarian⁸ agencies, who got caught or trapped in the fighting." 

Pagonis says aid agencies expect more people to arrive in the region.  She says the UNHCR is working with local authorities to identify more sites to house the displaced.

DRC President Laurent Kabila told reporters on October 17 he was preparing to forcibly disarm⁹ renegade leader Nkunda.  He said he also planned to forcibly disarm and repatriate¹⁰ Rwandan Hutu fighters who fled to eastern DRC after the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

1 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

2 displacements   

n.取代( displacement的名词复数 )；替代；移位；免职

参考例句：

• The laws of physics are symmetrical for translational displacements. 物理定律对平移是对称的。 来自辞典例句
• We encounter only displacements of the first type. 我们只遇到第一类的驱替。 来自辞典例句

3 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 lull   

v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇

参考例句：

• The drug put Simpson in a lull for thirty minutes.药物使辛普森安静了30分钟。
• Ground fighting flared up again after a two-week lull.经过两个星期的平静之后，地面战又突然爆发了。

7 inaccessible   

adj.达不到的，难接近的

参考例句：

• This novel seems to me among the most inaccessible.这本书对我来说是最难懂的小说之一。
• The top of Mount Everest is the most inaccessible place in the world.珠穆朗玛峰是世界上最难到达的地方。

8 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

9 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

10 repatriate   

v.遣返；返回；n.被遣返回国者

参考例句：

• The government safely repatriates victims.政府安全遣返了受害者。
• In this part,you need to formulate in detail repatriate the plan.在这一部分，你需要制定详细的归国计划。